Case Study: Sarasota Owners Hit 84% Occupancy Rate in First Year

Challenge: Equip first-timers with the right strategy and team to make their home a successful vacation rental.

Background

Sonia Hamouda and her husband Adam were struggling to sell their Sarasota home. With no promising buyers on the horizon and a house they were desperate to fill, the Hamoudas decided to look into vacation rentals.

After contacting a property management company in Sarasota, they started to feel a little hopeless. “They weren’t selling any insurance, they took about 18% of our cut, and they told me we would only get booked around 4 months out of the year.”

Sonia decided to do a little more research, and that’s when she came across Evolve.

“

Evolve is great in every respect. We were very nervous about starting with short-term rentals, but with your guidance and the help of our great Evolve service partner, Caroline, everything is working better than we could have imagined!”

Solution

Evolve provided everything the Hamoudas were looking for: a low, flat fee of 10%, traveler support 7 days a week, and most importantly - access to our vetted network of local service providers.

Evolve’s local service partner, Caroline, gave the Hamoudas the peace of mind they needed. With Caroline taking care of on-site tasks like property walkthroughs, assisting guests in-residence, and stocking the property, Sonia and Adam knew they were in great hands.

“Caroline is vital to the whole operation,” Sonia said, “she ensures that everything is running smoothly.”

Evolve not only set the Hamoudas up with a great partner, but we also created a professional listing for their property and listed it top sites like VRBO and Airbnb for free. Equipped with the right team, Sonia and Adam were excited to see if their new venture into vacation rental would pay off.

Performance

Time with Evolve

8 MONTHS

Nights Booked

384

Total Bookings

85

Rental Income

$104,089

Results

After the local property manager in Sarasota told them that their home would get very few bookings, the Hamoudas had low expectations. Although they remained hopeful, they had no idea what to expect when their property went live in May of 2017.

“We assumed it would at least take a couple of months for our property to get bookings,” Sonia remarked, “But right off the bat it just started getting booked, and booked, and booked.”

In just 8 months, the Hamoudas have made over $100,000 from 85 bookings.

The Hamoudas couldn't be happier that they joined Evolve, saying: “Between moving away and trying vacation rental for the first time, we were very nervous. But with the team at Evolve and the help of Caroline, everything worked out so well!”